Radiance Misses Juneau

[prc]

This was reported on another website as occuring yesterday...

 

"Passengers were notified at 10:30 AM that the ship's port call at Juneau was cancelled due to satellite communication problems that delayed sending the manifest for security clearance by the US Coast Guard. Guests were offered a $100 onboard credit for the missed port call."

[campngrl]

That is really sad. I would have been really upset if that happened to us last week. We just got off the Radiance Saturday and had a great time. We had two big excursions planned in Juneau, the dogsledding and whale watching. I would have been disappointed to only get a $100 ship credit to replace those. I know things happen but its bad it happened in that port. Icy Strait would have been better since we couldnt really see alot to do in that port.

[MrBassBone]

That is really sad. I would have been really upset if that happened to us last week. We just got off the Radiance Saturday and had a great time. We had two big excursions planned in Juneau, the dogsledding and whale watching. I would have been disappointed to only get a $100 ship credit to replace those. I know things happen but its bad it happened in that port. Icy Strait would have been better since we couldnt really see alot to do in that port.

 

 

Juneau on Saturday? That does not sound right. Saturdays are departure days from either Vancouver or Seward...

[springtxbill]

She was just saying that her cruise ended on Saturday.

[emilygrace]

That's really too bad. Juneau was my favorite port of the three! If their excursions were booked through the cruise line, they'd get a refund, but I wonder about ones booked privately in a situation like this, where the whole ship is unable to dock.

[springtxbill]

Most will give a refund if the ship is unable to dock for any reason. Always ask what their policy is before booking.:)

[MrBassBone]

She was just saying that her cruise ended on Saturday.

 

I REALLY need to either get more sleep or get my eyes checked...LOL

[Treacher1]

This sounds unusual to me. The manifests are collected weeks before the trip. Is there not another way they could have sent information via tender, etc.?? Delay to port because of that?? not miss entirely? I wonder if there is more to this story. If anyone was sailing - please advise - taking Radiance to Alaska in a week:)

[HurricaneSally]

Gee, maybe they should revolt and hold sit-ins until they get a free cruise.

[parrotthead]

We are on the Serenade in July...they (RCI) have already dorpped Ketchikan from our itinerary...if something like this happens to us I will be sooo sad...that will mean only ONE Aslaskan stop on our Alaskan Cruise...Wonder why they didnt just divert to another city???

[springtxbill]

They would have not been able to get the manifest into the new port in time also.

[Mildred]

We did miss Juneau due to a communications snafu and each person received a $100 credit and there was a bar Happy Hour(s?) as well.

 

On a positive note, RCCL substituted the Tracy Arm Fjord instead and it was sensational !!

[Mildred]

This is Mildred's other half - The satellite communications was up and down, and the crew indicated that other RCCI ships were having the same SatCom problems. In order to make a US port, the US Coast Guard requires a full manifest 24 hours in advance - sent out from RCCI Maimi. It was not received so we were not able to make Juneau. Another port could not be substituted since it too would have required the same 24 hours of notice, and it possibly would have just rippled the problem in to the next day with additional reservations problems.

 

So essentially replacing Tracy Arm was a very good alternative, in that was arranged over satellite phone directly between the ship and the Coast Guard, getting a Pilot, thus limiting the missed guest reservations to just Juneau.

 

Probably the largest problem were people missing their dog sled and helicopter plans. Some vendors did not charge for missed reservations - while apparently others did. For us, it worked out just great, in that we were going to take the bus up to the glaicer and do some shopping.

 

Gordon :cool:

[tinkerme1]

Hi all. Missing Juneau would have been devastating for us. It was one of our favorite ports. I'm sorry to hear that some of you missed this port, but glad that Capt. Rune L. got you into Tracey Arm instead. That must have been wonderful!

 

Hello Bill. John and I send our hugs to you and your wife. Glad to see everyone posting about their return from Alaska.

 

Have a very safe and good 4th of July Holiday.

[FLfamilyof4]

Well, I must admit we were disappointed to miss Juneau on Monday, June 26th. I have absolutely no idea how the manifest/satellite "things" work and thus cannot explain. But Mildred's DH pretty much covered it in previous post on this thread.

 

We had booked NorthStar Trekking independently for Heli/Glacier hiking at this port. NorthStar was wonderful--kind & prompt email response which stated we would not be charged any penalty due to the circumstances. Apparently, RCI also uses NorthStar as a vendor for excursions so that may be another reason why NorthStar was willing not to penalize us even though we booked independently.

 

I felt the situation was handled well by the Captain--of course, he even made it funny in his own special way. The $100 credit PER GUEST was fine by us since the cruise contract states ports can be changed or omitted. If we didn't use all of the credit, guest services informed us the difference would be refunded in cash at end of cruise. (we did manage to spend the entire $400!:) ) After the announcement was made, many helpful staff were around to answer questions so that no one had to wait in a long line at Guest Relations. I saw some folks yelling at the staff - the staff remained courteous despite the emotions being dumped upon them. The open bar from 1 pm to 2pm was a nice gesture but there were only 3 drinks available for no cost: Rum Punch, Bloody Marys and Screwdrivers. Logistically, I understand why these were the only choices but none of those drinks really appeal to me. I drank a Rum Punch anyway--not sure it had any rum--very weak!

 

Tracy Arm was glorious. I first learned about it here on the boards. We took many pictures and feel fortunate to have been to such a pristine and beautiful location especially since very few ships get to go there anymore.

We can go back to experience Juneau. I realize not everyone may have that option:( We enjoyed the experience and did not let the change of itinerary spoil our vacation. We made the best of it:D Someone here on the boards sums it up best "Any day cruising is better than a day at work!'

[abridalmaven]

Hey Merricki, how are you doing? Alaska was wonderful wasn't it? You have got to try the Freedom some day!

[bibliobelle]

We too were disappointed in missing Juneau although the Hubbard Glacier cruising day and our glacier landing in Talkeetna on the cruisetour portion of our trip certainly helped alleviate the disappointment of not seeing Mendenhall Glacier. Two members of our group, however, were devastated because the main focus of their excitement on cruising Alaska was doing the glacier landing/dogsled excursion in Juneau (they did not do a land tour). They tried to book other dogsled excursions in the later ports but, of course, they were already fully booked.

 

Our friends are interested in knowing whether the satellite problem was a Royal Caribbean problem or a Coast Guard problem. There were three other ships scheduled for port on June 26th...Dawn Princess, Oosterdam, and Zuiderdam. Does anyone know whether these ships made it into Juneau on the 26th? We heard a rumor that no ships made it into Juneau that day.

[Lightsluvr]

The Vision of the Seas had no problem getting into Juneau on June 25... I would assume they use the same communications systems...especially from RCCI Miami to the USCG.

 

LL